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Bishop: 'Middle Passage' haunting but unfocused

The TV Set

Posted: Friday, February 08, 2002

HBO's track record as of late has done much to increase the anticipation of future original films and series, at least by this columnist. Not excluded from this group was the dramatic motion picture ''The Middle Passage,'' which debuts Saturday at 10:05 p.m. on the premium cable channel. However, after receiving and reviewing an advance copy of the movie in question, my enthusiasm has been tempered slightly.

Sam

Bishop

I might have had unfairly high expectations for this film, which depicts the harrowing weeks spent at sea by those African slaves destined for a life of labor in the Americas. But if you read my column last week, you might remember that ''The Middle Passage'' was one of only a few programs specifically planned to air during Black History Month, a fact that might have added additional pressure.

Really all of this is beside the fact that the film is difficult to watch, and not just from a subject matter point of view.

The story is told from the perspective of a dead slave whose spirit haunts the Africa to America trade route which was the second leg of a three-part voyage that began and ended in Europe. This middle passage brought captured Africans to the New World, where they were exchanged for sugar, tobacco and other products to be shipped back to Europe.

Now the concept behind ''The Middle Passage'' should not be a new one for any student who paid a modicum of attention in high school social studies class during Black History Month. Clearly, the matter could have received more thorough attention, which was precisely director Guy Deslauriers's main motivation for the project. But Deslauriers's approach begs the question: How much time is necessary to focus on one truly horrible element of a greater atrocity?

I am going to go out on a limb and say that two hours is one hour too many. My reasoning is that this particular depiction makes it difficult to keep focused, visually, because the story provides no main character or characters with whom one can empathize. Despite the fact that I knew the story's main character was the voice of a ghost, my mind was still involuntarily trying to decipher which of the countless African souls shackled and crammed into the hull of the anonymous slaver ship was this ghost.

It caused a mild frustration that was only exacerbated by a cinematic trick employed throughout the film. All static or non-human elements in the film showed up on screen picture perfect. However, once bodies started moving, their movements were always displayed in a blurred fashion. This proved interesting for the first 10 to 15 minutes, but once I realized that this focus-less-ness -- in both picture and central character, or characters -- was going to persist for the entirety of the movie, I very easily became distracted from the main ideas meant to be presented.

Now, I will doff my cap to the narration, which was beautifully written by acclaimed novelist Walter Mosley and excellently executed by Djimon Hounsou, the latter having starred in both ''Amistad'' and ''Gladiator.'' But I will say that my appreciation for these poetically spoken words grew only after I closed my eyes to listen to them, making me realize that ''The Middle Passage'' might have been better served as a multi-part radio play for National Public Radio.